MIRA-II, MIRA-III, and MIRA-SG projects: the future plan of long-baseline optical/IR interferometers in Japan

Jun Nishikawa; Koichi Sato; Toshio Fukushima; Masanori Yoshizawa; Yoshihiro Machida; Yukihiro Honma

doi:10.1117/12.317195

24 July 1998 MIRA-II, MIRA-III, and MIRA-SG projects: the future plan of long-baseline optical/IR interferometer in Japan

Jun Nishikawa, Koichi Sato, Toshio Fukushima, Masanori Yoshizawa, Yoshihiro Machida, Yukihiro Honma

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 3350, Astronomical Interferometry; (1998) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.317195
Event: Astronomical Telescopes and Instrumentation, 1998, Kona, HI, United States

Abstract

Long-baseline optical and IR interferometers are being considered as future astronomical instrument plans in Japan since 1994. They are called MIRA projects, indicating Mitaka or Mauna Kea IR array. The next Mitaka optical and IR array proposal is called MIRA-II. It consists of four fixed telescopes as an array for 1mas astrometry and three movable ones for 0.2mas imaging. They are placed in a sideways T- configuration with three 128m arms and extended lines getting the longest baseline of 680m. Each of the telescopes is a 30cm siderostat added with a 20cm beam compressing telescope. MIRA-III is a proposal of Mauna Kea optical/IR array including a 1.4km baseline with 1.5m telescopes. Its shape is a modified Y-configuration. It also aims at precise astrometry including many quasars as well as high resolution imaging of fainter stellar objects than MIRA-II. MIRA-SG, a future proposal of Mauna Kea optical/IR array connecting Subaru with GEMINI, is one of the largest interferometer with an 800m baseline by 8m telescopes. It became possible by using optical fibers fed from each Cassegrain focus with an adaptive optics system. Keck telescopes and other large telescopes on Mauna Kea are also candidates to connect with Subaru.

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Jun Nishikawa, Koichi Sato, Toshio Fukushima, Masanori Yoshizawa, Yoshihiro Machida, and Yukihiro Honma "MIRA-II, MIRA-III, and MIRA-SG projects: the future plan of long-baseline optical/IR interferometer in Japan", Proc. SPIE 3350, Astronomical Interferometry, (24 July 1998); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.317195

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